Genre: Western
Directed: John Ford
Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, John Qualen
Production: Warner Bros.
The recent acquittal of George Zimmerman on the charge of second degree murder has enraged many in the past few days. To a certain point these impassioned sentiments are justified; no one likes to hear about the loss of youth in the hands of irresponsible people. If one party or both thought just a little longer and harder about their actions on the night of February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin would still be alive today.
But life as we know it is a lot more complicated than the actions of two angry men. Twitter and Facebook are aglow with comments not only lambasting the jury’s verdict but expanding on the state of our nation. “What has the world come to?” “No justice for Trayvon!” “The state of the nation is in shambles!” Hyperbole no doubt, but far be it from me to criticize what people mimic from the media. Everything is sensationalized and exaggerated to the point where even putting a story like the sad tale of Trayvon Martin into a wider context means race-baiting and vitriol.
While I don’t disagree the case had a racial element to it, I prefer to see it as a story of two imperfect men, not unlike the relationship of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) and the Comanche chief (Henry Brandon) in The Searchers (1956). In John Ford’s epic western, Ethan and his adopted nephew Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) chase down the Comanche chief Scar and his tribe for killing their kin and stealing one of their women folk. They take 5 years to eventually catch up with them, harboring a mutual resentment that eventually culminates in a bloody battle.
You see in a modern context, Ethan and Martin represent Zimmerman. Ethan is quick to draw his pistol and easy to anger yet in ideal circumstances he can be shrewd and even kind. It is ambiguous whether he’s motivated by vengeance or by a desire to save his young niece but what is known is he hates the Native Americans. He hates them while toting Martin who is one-eighth Cherokee, and he hates them while he is familiar with their customs and language.
When Scar and Ethan finally meet in a short but tense scene, the audience catches a glimpse into the psyche of both men. Both have been wronged by the system of oppression that defined westward expansion. Ethan, a former Confederate Captain squelched by the Union; Scar, an Indian chief who had his family killed by white raids. Both were hurt, both take instinctive action and both pay a price for it.
Only one however pays the ultimate price in the hands of Martin. Finding Scar dead during a raid, Ethan finishes the job by scalping him. However, with the niece back home and order restored, Ethan stands forlorn, unquenched by the ends brought by his actions. Whether he was motivated by vengeance or the desire to be a savior is now moot. He is ostracized and alone.
So too is Zimmerman, a man whose motivations were ambiguous but his actions brought forth an unfortunate end. Now he pays the price ostracized and alone. Is it justice? I cannot say though many would claim it is not. What I can say is the issue of race relations is an old one, and a tired one yet it lives on and haunts us because people refuse to acknowledge its impact. At least not until it’s too late.
Final Grade: A
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